The Contradiction
by Adimega10
Summary: "Don't be afraid to be a contradiction." - Liza Koshy. Saving the world is hard, constantly contradicting yourself while doing so makes it even harder. When a serial killer magician escapes North Korea and captures godling after godling, will the Brooklyn House Fast Reacting Team keep it together without their leader? Or will Maragos's evil plan succeed?
1. Chapter 1

She had to continue running. She couldn't stop, not and with them behind her. Her pulse was echoing in her ears as she was making her way up the next dune. All of a sudden the hot sand beneath her feet disappeared, being replaced with the emptiness of the air.

"I got you." - said her chaser. She still couldn't make out almost anything about him, aside from that breathy, rusty voice. It was almost like he hadn't drunk anything in years.

She could feel something holding on her throat, almost chalking her.

"Ayanna, Ayanna, Ayanna..."

" _Do it_!" - she heard the voice in her head louder than ever. _\- "Ayanna, do it! I know you want_ to. _You are strong enough, to finish him_ _before he finishes you."_

"No... , no this is not what we agreed on." - she whispered out loud.

"What did you agree on, little one?" - her chaser chimed in. - "You havin' problems with ya little friend?"

Now she was definitely chocking.

 _"I know you want to see the life leave his body._ _Finish him before you're finished!"_

She couldn't breathe. Her vision was starting to get dizzy.

Ayanna tried to take in a deep breath and woke up suffocating.

It didn't matter anymore that it was just a dream, she was awake and couldn't breathe. Her mind went in all directions - from I'm dying to considering praying, until seconds later everything normalized and she could inhale again.

She shook her head. "This is getting out of hand."

 _"Tell me about it... You okay?"_

"What is that I hear, the god of evil caring about someone else, but himself? No way!" - she rolled her eyes, before closing them and trying to make herself comfortable again.

 _"You've seen my thoughts, yet you still have_ _quite the expectations about me."_

"You say it like it's not true."

If you could mentally raise an eyebrow, she would've.

 _"Okay, maybe I'm a little self-centered and narcissistic, but at least I don't have as high self esteem as śomé gods."_

Uh-huh, right.

 _"Ayanna, it's going to be okay. The escape is tomorrow_ , you'll be safe."

"You think so? " - all kinds of scenes were playing in her head on loop. - "They want to kill all godlings, yeah, but they specifically need my blood."

 _"It's not -"_

"No, it's your fault! They need the blood of active hosts of the five Demon Days and they already have three on their hands! You could've picked anyone, Set! Anyone!"

 _"Look who's thinking only about themselves now_." - he teased her.

"Not. Helping."

Ayanna got out of bed, and walked out on the terrace, her eyes drifting towards the fire from the dinning table that Xander and his minions lit up in the pool downstairs.

"Thank gods I managed to get Philip out of there on time." - she thought.

" _Your welcome."_

"Oh, shut up!... I'm going to think about how to help everyone else once I'm not in danger myself. I can't really help them if I'm dead, right?"

A group of magicians were escaping the Brooklyn House in a couple of hours - initiates, teachers, godlings...

 _"...Cyd?"_

"Shut up! Ugh."

Yeah, Cyd. And what was left from the infamous "Brooklyn House Fast Reacting Team". But hey, they were still leaving after midnight, which made it a new day, right? And with new days, come new beginnings.

"At least I hope that one is going to be good."

" _Me too, kid, me too."_


	2. Chapter 2

_Two weeks earlier, 12_ _th_ _of July 2018,_ _Pharaoh's quarters, First Nome_

"Carter, calm down."

The soon-to-be-officially-pharaoh look at her reflection in the mirror.

"If I could calm down I would've done so already."

Zia got up from the bed and went over to him. The two of them had teleported at First Nome the previous day for an emergency House of Life meeting and to say that Carter was nervous was an understatement. The poor kid knew well enough that someday he'd have to take on his duty as a pharaoh. But back then "when I'm 18" seemed so far away.

He smiled at the eye of Ra, who was now fixing his tie. She smiled back and got closer to him, which made her amber eyes even more hypnotizing, if that was even possible.

"What is it?" - she whispered, her gaze not leaving his for a second.

Carter let out a sigh, lightly shaking his head.

"I don't think I can do this, Zia." - He said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. - "I don't think I could be a pharaoh. Four years ago I knew nothing about this world, how am I suppose to lead it?"

Zia wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him.

"Was that to shut me up?"

She laughed quietly, tilting her head a little bit.

"Carter, let go of the past and who you think you should be. Embrace who you are today and build upwards from there. I believe in you. I always have and I always will. It's time for you to do the same."

And there she goes, giving him that smile again. The one that made every part of him melt, that made her eyes sparkle and managed to lighten up even the darkest of days.

Carter kissed her one more time before letting go.

"It's time." - he said.

"Good luck at the meeting!"

"Thanks, I'll need it."

 _28_ _th_ _of July 2018,_ _The Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor_ _, Egypt_

Zia was looking at the frieze in the Precinct of Amun Ra like it was the most intresting thing in the world. There were 5 hours left until a portal could be open, yet there she was – awake and waiting for the Brooklyn House initiates to come to safety.

"Kid, take some rest." - tried again Bes, the fearsome god of dwarfs - "Just because the old man is being insomniac lately doesn't mean you have to do the same."

"He's right, sweetheart. You need the rest." - chimed in his wife.

Bes and Taweret had promised Ra to tag along with Zia, so she's not alone until the others come. She was glad they were there. After all, any help was crucial at this point.

Zia sat on the ground next to Taweret, who was still eyeing her suspiciuosly.

"Is everything okay?" - asked the young magician.

Taweret snapped out of her thoughts and regained her usual warm smile.

"Oh, oh, yeah, sweetheart! Everything's fine! And how are _you_ feeling?"

Zia snorted, smiling ever so slightly.

"We're in the middle of ancient ruins and on the run, so I'm as good as it gets."

"That's good, good..." - The goddess patted her foot before trailing off again.

In the far distance, Zia could see the sun come up, the solar boat slowly making its way up into the sky, baiting in light and life everything under it.

She let out a sigh and smiled. It was a new day, after all. And with new days, came new beginning.


	3. No John Trumbull

_Chapter 4 : No John Trumbull_

 _12th of July 2018, First Nome, Egypt_

"You all have got to be kidding me!" laughed Spinetta, leaning back in his chair. "Prisoners escape North Korea all the time and no one bats an eye. What's so special about this one?"

"You're absolutely right, Gustavo," Spinetta's smile froze upon hearing the warning in the Chief Lector's voice. "What's so special about a serial killer necromancer, who'd love to see death half the people in this room? Or have you forgotten the night we lost so many of our best magicians?"

The whole council quieted down, something Carter didn't think he'd ever see. Grief filled the air, everyone was looking down at the table in front of them. Everyone, but the girl on the 4th nome chair, who was looking right at him. She looked around his age, but in the magical world is never so simple. She could be 170 for all he knew. Her skin was maybe a shade or two darker than his and one of her brown eyes was almost completely hidden by a fallen lock of black curly hair.

Finally, Carter decided to break the silence. "We all know that Xander Maragos is dangerous. Something has to be done. We're asking for the best magicians that you are able send from each nome, so an elite team could be formed to find and capture the fugitive. Any objections?"

For a moment he was afraid his plan won't fly, but nobody spoke against his decision.

"When do you need the magicians?" - asked Edith Gall, the new French nome leader.

"in a week the most," answered her Amos. "We need everyone to be here by 21st of the month."

All present nodded.

"I apologize, but i'll have to disagree," Spinetta stood up and looked at Carter. "if I wanted to follow the orders of a kid, i'd babysit." With that he left the room.

Carter swallowed and threw a quick look at his uncle, who nodded slightly. That was enough for today. The boy stood up, everyone following suit. "The council's dismissed. Have a nice day."

After the meeting Carter was walking down the hallway, when the girl from Forth stopped him, seemingly in a hurry. She had pinned up the fallen lock of hair, revealing a little scar next to her right eye.

"i'm sorry to bother you, _nisu_ , but," She looked around, as if to make sure no one can hear. "We need to talk."

Carter nodded and they returned to the now empty cabinet, where the meeting had been just a couple of minutes ago.

"Well," She started, leaning on one of the chairs. "I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Tiana Campbell and i'm the new Forth Nome leader. I believe I have important information about Maragos's whereabouts."

He stared at her in disbelief.

 _"Ask her why she didn't say something during the meeting," said the annoying voice in his head._

 _"Stay quiet and let me handle this, okay" Carter thought back._

"Ms. Campbell, if you have information, then why didn't you say something during the meeting?"

 _"Copycat."_

 _"Oh, shut up!"_

Campbell's eyes focused on the floor, avoiding his.

"I was afraid I won't be taken seriously by the rest of the House of Life representatives."

That caught the boy's attention. He tilted his head, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"And why won't they take you seriously? You're a nome leader, aren't you?"

She smiled sadly, finally looking up at him. "Don't people still brush you off because of your age, even though you'll be pharaoh in less than a week?"

That took him aback. 'if I wanted to follow the orders of a kid, i'd babysit.' Of course they did, he was 18 and so many of those magicians were over 100 years old. But this girl... could she really be as young as she looks?

"How old are you?" he asked her.

"Seventeen."

"Why are you a nome leader at 17?"

"Why were you one at 15?"

 _Touché_

"Ah, you got me" he smirked and she smiled again, this time seemingly at ease.

"So, let's cut to the chase. Where is Xander Maragos?" Carter asked her.

"Well, I don't know exactly where he is, but, it was reported to me a couple of days ago that he's hiding around illinois." Tiana pressed her lips together, waiting for his response.

"So he's on your territory?"

She nodded. "I suspect so, yes."

Carter took in a deep breath. There it was, his first pharaoh decision. The nomes had agreed to send aid within a week, but they had a clue and who knows how long the murderer was going to stay in illinois. There was no time to waste. Damn, on how many people's wrong side could he get for this one.

 _Carter, you know what you have to do._

Yes, he did. He sighed and turned his attention back to Forth's leader.

"Go to the Portals Square. i'll call up my team and we'll meet you there. We're leaving for Aurora, illinois tonight."

 _*nisu - king in Ancient Egyptian, something like 'your majesty'._


	4. 23:14

_**28th of July 2018, Brooklyn House, 23pm EDT**_

 _ **Ayanna**_

20 minutes till the sunrise in Luxor. 20 minutes for the 14 teens left in the mansion to open a portal and get away. 20 minutes and they would be in Karnak. 20 minutes till they were… _safe._ Huh, Ayanna knew better than to think that she will ever be safe. She was Kane after all – if what they were facing now didn't kill her, the next problem-to-be-apocalypse could. And boy did they had a lot of those.

Anyways, she was tip-toying around, making her way downtown… sorry, upstairs _,_ when she heard footsteps coming up the staircase. She quickly ducked behind a nearby shabti and waited to see who's coming. Relief washed over her when she recognized the girl walking towards her.

Ayanna sighed and came out of her cover.

"Hey, hey, hey," she whispered, hugging her cousin.

"Hey," Sadie whispered back, looking quickly behind her shoulder. "Talk later, go now?"

Ayanna nodded and they continued their way up to the roof. Everybody else was already waiting for them next to an empty griffin nest. Once the slow evacuation of the Brooklyn House had started two days ago, Freak and the ankle bitters were the first to leave. Then were as many of the newer initiates as possible. Only 14 magicians, all of which present right now, were left when Xander Maragos figured out people were leaving. Ayanna couldn't understand why he wasn't stopping them, though. After all, he needed only two more people to accomplish his plan – active hosts of Set and Nephthys. One of those was right under his nose.

" _At least she doesn't have a host, so that's a point for us, right?" s_ he thought, but the expected sarcastic remark didn't follow up _. "Set? Hello? Not gonna say anything? At all?"_

An overwhelming tsunami of feelings hit her like never before: betrayed, embarrassed, out of control, helpless, resentful, powerless, furious, isolated, let down – all of which leaving him numb and empty over time, knowing he's nothing but a monster in the eyes of the only one left who had any hope in him. And yet, he still loved her. He still cared.

" _Why?_ "

Again no response. Maybe she would've gotten some answers, had she interrogated him more, but just then a voice brought her back to reality.

"K, all are here, let's get this over with!" Sadie exclaimed, before she started chanting to open the portal.

Sadie Kane had not changed much in the past three years – the same blue eyes and dyed in blue and red caramel hair, but the girl Ayanna reunited with back then seemed so far away. If back then you could say Sadie looked like her mother, now you won't be able to tell the difference between the 16 years old and Ruby Kane.

"15 minutes" proclaimed Cleo, looking at her watch. The Brooklyn House librarian was carrying a bag full of scrolls, that earlier that day she had deemed 'too important to leave behind'.

Next to her Linda and Jaz were double checking whatever was in their bags. Linda had just turned 20 a month ago and already had around her that 'adult' vibe, that Ayanna still wasn't sure was a good thing. Linda was one of the newest initiates, having come from Guinea in the beginning of the year, yet she was already one of the best followers of Hathor in the nome. Her black, curly hair was up in a bun, which doesn't really scream 'I'm in my 20s', but she managed to pull it off.

Jaz, on the other hand, was part of the 'first-wave' of Brooklyn House initiates and the main nome healer. Her blond hair was braided on the side, but some strands of hair had managed to find their way out and were tucked behind her ear.

Khufu, who everyone refused to leave behind, was walking around everyone, from time to time taking from the nachos Adel and Al were eating. Adel was a 17 years old, short, Kyrgyzstan girl, who looked like a freaking Olympics athlete. Following the path of the cat goddess and constantly doing gymnastics for sure had its perks. Al, on the other hand was one of the tallest people in the room, even though he was the youngest – just 13. One of his hands was on fire, though Ayanna wasn't sure if he was practicing or nervous – with him following the path of Ra you could never know.

Walt's eyes weren't moving from Sadie, whose portal was five minutes away from opening. His appearance hadn't changed much since he was 15, but his outlook on live for sure has. After merging with Anubis, they both had started actually living for the first time, and boy was it showing. You could see a spark in his eyes, which is something Ayanna never expected from neither of them.

Next to him their two nephthians, Pavel and Cyd were whisper-arguing about something. They were both 15 like Ayanna, but Pavel was way shorter than both of the girls. The three of them loved to joke that it was a Bulgarian thing, since both Pavel and Ayanna's mother were from there. His blond hair was freshly cut short, since he was talking about re-dyeing his fringe again. He was always hot for some reason, waving his wand like it was a fan.

Cyd on the other hand was almost always cold in the mornings. Where do you even begin to describe Cydney Marcel? She was pretty much the same height as Ayanna, maybe a little shorter. Her black hair was falling like waves down her back, the front of it clipped back with a seashell shaped hairclip.

 _They're probably talking about you._

" _Set, shut up!"_ Great, now she was probably blushing too. Could she blame it on hosting Set?

 _You can't use me as an excuse all the time, kid._

" _Watch me."_

 _Fuck, I said 'can't' around a Kane! Come on, just tell her you like her already!_

" _You never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look an idiot._ _"_

 _How many times_ _did_ _you binge the Very Potter Musical Series_ _this week_ _?_

" … _What do you think you'd be sorted as?_ _"_

 _Bi as Alexander Hamilton,_ he said it so proudly she could imagine him raising his head dramatically. Then the realization hit him. _Oh, you mean house. Slytherin. You?_

" _Gay as the Forth of July."_ Ayanna smirked instinctively. _"Yeaah, Slytherin."_

Just then their conversation was cut short by Cleo yelling "Now!" and Sadie's portal finally opening and without much of a second thought everybody jumped into the sand vortex.


	5. Karnak

_**Sunday, 29th of July 2018, Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor, Egypt**_

 _ **Zia**_

Zia couldn't help but notice the cold wind blowing from the Nile, just 10 minutes away from them. Even simply thinking of that river made her shiver and going over it three days in a row was giving her the worst motion sickness she has ever experienced. She tried not to think about her time spend with the river goddess, concentrating on the hieroglyphs engraved in the wall. The pictures were so much more vivid when illuminated by the faint white lights in the dark. She ran her hand over the wall, her eyes instinctively jumping from word to word.

"Xir tayfe khemnew sewaw hur ronpet khemt muduru khemt iny tayfe gepiaq Tuthmos zas kemtnru xipos..."

"5 minutes till the portal opens," informed her Bes, taking her out of her trance-like state. "What ya reading?"

"How Tuthmos 3rd conquered 240 places during his 8th campaign." she answered without moving her eyes from the wall.

"Ah, that's a good one! If you look a little to the right you will see and a list of 119 towns that were conquered during his first campaigns. Of course most, if not all of them were- "

"Palestinian. He would've done more, but the House of Life stopped him before he could get in trouble with foreign gods." she finally looked at him with a sad smile. "It's always good to have someone who will stop you before you do something stupid."

The dwarf sighed.

"Kid, look, I know you're still blaming yourself about your boyfriend, bu-" he stopped for a second because of the look she gave him. "B-but, we need to concentrate on what we can do right now, right? Right? Right! So let's not burn this good ol' dwarf and welcome our friends, who shall be here any minute now, yes?"

Bes looked nervously at the obelisk at the end of the courtyard, then up at the stars. After a couple of seconds he clapped his hands so loudly Zia was happy they have gotten rid of the security guards.

"Any second now!"

The girl couldn't help but smile in relief when the portal appeared and her friends stepped on Egypt grounds.

Sadie was first, dusting herself off while muttering something about a new shirt and bad decisions. Her face lit up when she spotted Zia and Bes and ran up to hug them. Everybody else had already come through when she let go of them.

Bes smiled and opened his arms towards everyone "Welcome to Karnak, kiddos!"

"Karnak? As in the Karnak Temple Complex?"Cleo's eyes lit up as she was looking around the whole place. "I've read so much about this place. This is the 3rd Pylon Courtyard, right? Gods, it's beautiful at night. I mean, everything Ancient Egyptian is beautiful at night, but wow is this magical. Meus deuses! I never thought I'd ever get to see this place!"

Zia couldn't help but smile. Being raised in Egypt AND a magician it was easy to forget how hard it was for some to see the world and how much appreciation those people had for its wonders. Ancient ruins had always been a part of Zia's life, kinda like how having friends your age was for others. Now that she really thought about it, the place was beautiful.

The museum lights made even the smallest details of the hieroglyphs engraved on the wall pop up against the stone, showing off the delicate and precise job of the workers assigned to do them. The moon was shining on the obelisk in front of them. The energy in the air, in the ground, all around them, was magnificent – like the whole place was buzzing, charged with power. The stars were so much more and brighter than they were back in New York. Ra, those stars! Carter would've loved them. They used to always sneak up on the roof of the Brooklyn House and star gaze, especially when his 18th birthday started to get closer. They would be there almost every single night, looking at the stars, watching the sunrise, talking, … And now he wasn't there, leaving her with the phantom feeling of his lips on hers every time she tried to fall asleep.

"Hello, Zia, get your sun boat back to the ground!" called out Sadie. "You here?"

Zia nodded. "Yeah, guess I was just distracted."

"You feeling okay, sweetheart?" asked the hippo goddess, who has joined their little group while Zia's mind was up in the clouds. Taweret sounded so worried about her and Zia still couldn't wrap her finger around why the goddess was even here. She has been scary on the sun barque, yes, but they already had Bes.

"I'm fine" reassured her Zia, before looking back at the magicians in front of her.

Pavel, Linda and Adele were here, which means every single initiate in the Brooklyn House was now safe. That was good, really good. Walt and Sadie were holding hands, Cleo was looking through some bag that looked like it was filled with scrolls, Ayanna and Cyd were giving Khufu reward Jell-O for not acting out because the gods of Egypt knew how much he hated portals.

"So," Linda raised her hand like an overly enthusiastic kid in school "We going over to Naqadah now?"

Ayanna froze. "Wait, the base is in Naqadah?" The girl looked speechless, which was a miracle because for the past 4 years Zia had never heard this kid shut up.

"Yeah, why?"

Unsurprisingly, Cleo chimed in, shooting out the answer like it was a long spell she had perform while they were chasing her.

"Naqadah is a town on the west bank of the Nile in Qena Governorate, Egypt. It was known in Egyptian as Nubt. Its name derives from Egyptian nbu, meaning "gold", on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert. The town was the centre of the cult of Set and large tombs were built there around c. 3500 BC."

" _Of course"_ Zia thought _"It was Set's place."_

She looked closely at Ayanna, as much as possible ignoring the family resemblance between her and Carter, trying to read her expression and failing miserably. The girl smiled at Zia reassuringly - _'I'm fine.'_ But was she?

Zia took in a deep breath, her mouth filling with the taste of the smell of salt water.

"Come on, the river won't cross itself!"

Without needing a second invite, the group started walking towards the entrance of the temple. Once they had reached the Avenue of Sphinxes outside of the temple complex and the Nile was already in sight, Zia slowed down. Once everyone was in front of her and couldn't see her, she stopped and leaned back on one of the sphinxes down the path, eyes fixed on the river. As it turns out, however, someone could still see her and she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Zia? You Okay?" When she didn't receive an answer, Ayanna leaned against the Sphinx too and let herself slide down until she was sitting on the sand. "It's okay if you don't wanna talk, I'm here."

Zia smiled slightly and sat down next to Ayanna. This was followed by a very long and deep sigh, finally letting out the breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"Aya, how do you always know what to say?"

The host of Set smirked, but it quickly turned into a huff.

"My father has depression, remember?"

"You mean _had_ " corrected her Zia. "He's better now."

Ayanna shook her head with a small side smile.

"That's the funny thing about anything mental, it never really leaves you. You think you're over it, you think you've gotten rid of it, but then," for the first time since the begging of the conversation the girl was looking at Zia and not at the horizon. "But then you see the river and it all comes back. And it hits you harder than it would've before, because: What happened to all the progress you thought you've made? But you have made progress and something triggering you doesn't erase that. You _are_ in a better place. You _are_ okay and you're not alone, okay?" Zia could see the slight ghost of tears forming in the girl's eyes.

"You really helped your father through a hard time, didn't you?"

Ayanna chuckled and got up, dusting herself off.

"You ready to continue walking? Because we may or may not have to run to catch up with the others."

Zia got up on her feet and smiled. "Thank you, I had no idea how much I needed this."

Ayanna hugged her quickly, before singing "What can I say except you're welcome? For the-"

"Honestly, Moana?" she cut her off.

The setian laughed.

"C'mon, it's written by Lin Manuel Miranda!"

"You have a problem."

"Yeah..." she looked off at where everyone else was – almost at the edge of the water, where a little Egyptian boat was waiting – before yelling: "You're it!" and running towards the rest of the group.

Zia laughed and ran after her. This girl, no matter how annoying she could be from time to time, was really starting to grown on her the past half a year or so. Having some fun almost made her forget all the trouble that was headed for them. Almost.


	6. Chapter 6: The Portal's Square

_**July 12th 2018, 21st nome, Brooklyn, New York**_

 _ **Sadie**_

Sadie woke up to her phone ringing.

"Should've turned the sound off." she muttered to herself, before turning around and trying to fall asleep again. Just when her phone finally shut up, it rang again.

"Okay, okay" she yelled at no one "I'm answering."

She rolled her eyes when she saw the time. It was bloody 5 o'clock for god' sake, don't they sleep in Egypt?

 _Sadie, you're forgetting time zones_

And on top of everything else Isis was being a smartass. But all her annoyance was replaced with worry when she heard the urgency in her brother's voice.

"Sadie, wake up the team and come to First Nome. I'll be waiting at the Portal's Square with 4th nome's leader. Come as soon as possible."

"Carter- "

"I'll explain when I see you, we don't have time. Love ya!" and with that he closed the phone.

Sadie looked at her warm, cozy bed and sighed.

"See you soon, sleep"

Then quickly got ready and went to wake up everybody.

She didn't try to be quiet, the place was full with teenagers, after all – most either woke up or went to bed at 5. As she wondering who to wake up first, she heard the way too familiar "Hey hey hey!" from behind her. Sadie turned around to see her cousin in pajamas, holding a cup.

"Hey, Carter's calling us in Egypt, wake up Jaz and Cleo and meet me in the hallway in five minutes."

Ayanna yawned.

"Can't it wait until tommorow."

Sadie huffed.

"I wish. It's an emergency."

Ayanna nodded, yawned again, blinked quickly a couple of times, trying to wake herself up, before heading to the other girls's rooms as Sade continued making her way down the hallway to Walt's.

Without even thinking about it, she opened the door. What? A)They've been together for almost 3 years now, B) This is the Brooklyn House, if you want people to knock before entering you lock the door and C) She was never the thinking type in the first place.

She peered into the room. Walt was sleeping and Sadie caught herself counting the seconds between each of his breaths. It was ridiculous and she knew it, but no matter how long it's been the haunting feeling that he won't wake up was still refusing to go away.

Sadie knelt to the side of his bed and shook his arm. He groaned before turning to face her and a smile crept across his face.

"Hey." he said sleepily, looking at her with those chocolate brown eyes, that always made her melt.

"Hey" she smiled back. "We gotta go, Carter's calling us in First."

That made him get up, frowning. "Is everything okay?"

Sadie shrugged. "I hope not, because if my idiot of a brother woke me up at bloody 5 a.m. for nothing, I'll personally kill him."

Walt smiled and kissed her.

"I'll be ready in five."

She nodded, kissing him back, and went to wake up Cyd.

On walking out of Walt's room she saw Ayanna, Jaz and Cleo waiting for her.

"We're going to wake up Cyd or what?" asked Aya, trying (and failing) to hide how excited she was.

Sadie smirked upon seeing the said girl approach them from behind the other three.

"What? Can't wait to see your girlfriend?"

"Girl, I wish." Aya huffed out.

"What do you wish?" Cyd asked innocently, placing a hand on Ayanna's shoulder.

Sadie had such a hard time trying not to laugh at her cousin going speechless, but her attention quickly shifted once Walt walked out of his room.

"Ready to go?" Damn, he was hot.

Sadie looked at everyone before nodding. "Let's go! Sooner we're done, sooner I'll be sleeping again."

The portal's square. How to describe it other than.. umm, weird. It was not a square, it was a rectangular room in First Nome, just next to the hallway with the Anubis statues and the kitchens. And it was huge, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of artifacts, each meters away from the other. There were 360 of them – one for every nome. It kinda looked like a magical airport – people coming and going with suitcases and backpacks, a hundred languages being spoken at once. It took a while for Sadie to spot her brother and Zia. They were waiting next to the 4th nome artifact – a giant shabti, shaped like some kind of a turtle. Some girl, who she assumed was the mentioned 4th nome leader, was talking with them.

Sadie pointed the team to where their friends were and they made their way there. From up-close the girl was giving her an off vibe, that she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about the stranger. Something was making her uneasy _(-s)._ Maybe it was how anxious she looked?

"Hello," said the curly-haired girl with such a big smile, that it was almost unnatural. No way was someone so happy to socialize. "I'm Tiana Campbell. Nice to meet you!"

Sadie managed a small smile.

"Sadie. From what I've heard we're going to Illinois?"

Tiana nodded.

"Yes, Aurora Illinois."

Sadie let out a small sigh, before taking the wand out of her bag.

"Let's get this over with then."

But before she could start the spell, Tiana stopped her.

"There is half an hour until the time is right, you gonna chant for so long?"

Sadie rolled her eyes.

"She's right" said Ayanna with an unusual tension in her voice. "We have time. Can we have a quick team meeting?" she looked at Campbell expectedly. Fortunately, the girl got the hint and walked off to the side.

Carter looked at Ayanna in confusion.

"What was that about?"

"I don't like her." was her answer. "Guys, I have a really bad feeling about this girl."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Sadie. "There's something about her that's just off as hell!"

Carter sighed. "Girls, look-"

"I agree." Zia cut him off. She placed a hand on his shoulder, as if to mentally hold him down. "Carter, what do we realistically know about this girl?"

Cyd raised her hand.

"Nothing. We just came, remember? What's going on?"

Sadie looked at him, waiting and extremely irritated. "Yeah, Carter, what's going on?"

Her brother pressed his lips together before looking around and whispering:

"We may have found Maragos."

Sadie's eye widened.

"What do you mean we may have found Maragos?"

"Wasn't Maragos the serial killer who escaped North Korea?" asked Cleo. A simple nod from Jaz and the color drained from the poor girl's face. "And we're going to him?"

Carter nodded.

"Yes. Tiana says that he has been spotted around her nome."

"Okay, so let's go get him!" exclaimed Sadie. "What are we waiting for?"

"What happened with not trusting that Tiana girl?" reminded her Ayanna.

"Oh, I still don't." reassured her Sadie. "But if we don't act quick we'll lose the trail!"

"For once we agree on something." muttered Carter.

"Well, I agree to disagree. What if she's lying?" pointed out Ayanna. "Huh? What about then?"

Carter shook his head. "Tiana isn't lying, Aya."

"How do you know?" she shot back, daring him to answer.

He hesitated for a second before spiting out:

"Because she's just like us, okay? A nome leader at 17, thrown into having to deal with more than any teenager should. Plus, Xander Maragos would affect her nome, too. Why should she lie to us?"

" _Good point,"_ thought Sadie. But, of course, it wasn't enough for her cousin.

"Why wouldn't she? We don't know her, we don't know what her motives are!"

"She's just trying to do what's right by giving us information the whole House has been struggling to get and you're just gonna completely dismiss that fact, because you don't like her?"

"First of all, I never said I don't like her! Se-"

"You did." corrected her Walt, but regret was quickly written all over his face when she turned to look at him. Sadie was happy she wasn't in her boyfriend's place right now. Not to get her wrong – she loved her cousin, but this girl could be downright scary when she wanted to. Props to following the path of the god of everything the Egyptians saw as evil, huh?

"Whatever!" she snapped before turning her attention back to Carter. Thank gods the place was so loud that no one could hear them argue. "Second of all, take it from a chaos magician – something about her is not right. Call it 6th sense if you want. Whatever this girl's motives are, they are not in your or anyone's best interest!"

Silence. This is for sure not what everyone expected to follow. The two were just staring at each other, as if to see who would break eye contact first. Sadie could see one of Carter's eyes change for a split second and who knows what would've happened if it wasn't for that little detail, because Aya for sure saw it too.

She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes, and exhaled before looking back at the pharaoh.

"Carter, look," At this point she was trying her hardest not to loose it. The tension between the cousins was so strong, that even Sadie decided to just shut up for once and not butt in. Ayanna sighed again and clasped her hands together, leaving the two index fingers out, so she could point at Carter with them. "Look, I love you and I really, _really,_ don't wanna argue right now, 'cuz if Sadie doesn't start chanting soon we'll miss the portal. But please, _please, for the sake of Ra, please_ promise me, that you won't, under _any_ circumstance, let your guard down during this mission, okay?"

Carter was a little taken aback by her giving up, but nodded. "Promise. I-"

"Guys, three minutes!" called out Tiana from behind them. "Is everything alright?"

Sadie smiled at the nome leader and turned her wand towards the turtle-like shabti.

"Aurora, Illinois, here we come!"

The eye of Isis couldn't help but feel Tiana's eyes on her the whole time she was chanting. There was for sure something dodgy about her. Come on, tho, how bad could it be? It's not like they were Kane or something… yeah, this was gonna be a fun day.


	7. Chapter 7: A girl's story

_**_**Sunday, 29th of July 2018,**_**_ _ ** _ **Naqadah**_**_ _ ** _ **, Egypt,**_**_ ** _ **9**_** _ ** _ **:**_**_ _ ** _ **30**_**_ _ ** _ **p**_**_ _ ** _ **.m.**_**_

 _ **Cyd**_

The boat had refused to take off so everyone decided to roam around for a few uneventful hours while Bes was trying to fix it. After a lot of swearing, three games of truth or dare, half of Sadie's secret candy stash and a dance party, the boat was ready to go. At sundown. __And they still had to travel down the Nile for an hour. This was probably gonna be the last peaceful hour they would get in a long time, so Cyd tried to enjoy at as much as possible. It wasn't hard – something inside her felt weirdly at home during the trip. She was almost sad when they reached the city.

The initiates had claimed a school close to the river and they had really made it their own. The fence around the school area had ribbons in all colors of the rainbow wrapped around it. The lightning was put out and replaced with magical candles as bright as the stars, flying around in the air. The entrance doors of the building were wide opened and teens were going in and out like crazy.

"Welcome to Al Tegara School!" said Bes, spreading his hands. "Come on, kiddos, get some rest. You'll need it."

As their little group was scattering across the yard, Cyd spotted Julian and Malisa graffiti spraying one of the walls. She quickly nudged Ayanna and pointed at their friends.

"Gonna say hello?"

Ayanna smiled and Cyd felt her heart skip a beat.

"Duh."

They started making their way there, when Ayanna slowed down – something she never does. Cyd looked at her.

"Aya, is everything alright?"

Instead of a response the girl grabbed Cyd's arm and pulled her behind a bush.

" _Not how I was imagining this moment_ _"_ she thought.

"Aya, is everything alright?" Cyd repeated her question insistently.

"Shh!" Ayanna whispered and stood up slightly. "Come see!"

A girl with black curly hair walked past, seemingly in a rush. She had her back turned towards them, but her walk seemed oddly familiar – like her right foot was still healing from something. The girl stopped by a door, looked around, opened it and disappeared into the school.

"Tiana?" Cyd whispered back.

Ayanna nodded.

"I still don't trust her."

" _Yeah, no shit."_ thought Cyd, but decided to keep it to herself. Instead she said:

"What is she hurrying for?"

"I dunno..."

"Well," Cyd got up and offered Ayanna a hand. "Wanna find out?"

The setian smiled. Her brown eyes were reflecting the candles' light, making thin seemingly red lines dance across them.

"Come on!" Ayanna used Cyd's hand to help her get up, their fingers intertwining for a second. Then the girls ran across the yard, making it to the door almost breathless.

"Well, running was not the best idea." breathed out Cyd, before observing the door on the little light they had left after leaving the main campsite. On the handle was engraved a hieroglyph – a box with six straight lines inside of it.

"Sepa" Cyd blurted out.

"Gods, I'd love to go! I could really use a neck massage."

Cyd chuckled.

"I wish I was talking about spa. Sepa, as in the Egyptian god of centipedes."

Ayanna shuddered, looking at the hieroglyph like it's a bomb.

"Of all things..."

"I know." Cyd placed a hand on Aya's shoulder. Then she leaned closer and whispered "Be brave and we'll see about that neck massage." Gods, did she loved making her blush.

Ayanna huffed before whispering back "Continue like that and I might start thinking you like me."

Cyd stepped back.

" _I don't like her, do I? I mean, we flirt a lot, but that's it right?"_

 _It's too dangerous to like a setian. -_ came the response she wasn't looking for. That took her aback for a second. Having weird gut feelings and words popping into her head was one thing, she could still rationalize it somehow. But a whole sentence from a voice that clearly wasn't hers? Now that was too much to be a consequence.

"Cyd, hey! I was joking, okay? You alright?"

Cyd nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm fine. Now," she turned towards the door and opened it, curtsying slightly. "After you."

Aya giggled, bowed and winked at Cyd, before taking her hand and pulling her into the darkness.

 _ **12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.). 4:40 am**_

 _ **Carter**_

"Do you think this is a mistake?" he whispered to his sister as they were walking down the hallways of 4th.

Sadie looked at Tiana, who was leading them to her cabinet.

"I think…" she sighed and smiled at her brother. "I think I trust you more than I don't trust her. And, if anything goes down, I've got your back. We all do, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

Tiana's cabinet was dull and almost empty. There were picture hooks, surrounded by light spots where the pictures have been and a lonely clock, ticking off the seconds. Thick blackout curtains were covering the windows and the only light in the room was coming from a fluorescent lamp on the ceiling. The only furniture were a Victorian style desk and two chairs – one of which was taken by a little girl. She couldn't have been older than 10. She was fidgeting with a pink rubber band that had been stretched out so many times it looked unusable. Upon seeing them enter, the girl stood up, keeping her hands behind her back.

"Everybody, this is Alysse Kiyoko. She is the magician who saw Maragos lurking around."

The little girl nodded shakily. Jaz knelt in front of her and said in a sweet voice:

"It's okay, sweetheart. Could you tell us what you saw exactly?"

The girl, Alysse, nodded again and took in a deep breath.

"We were playing hide and seek in the empty part of the nome. I was hiding in a closet." Carter heard a chuckle to his right and saw that Ayanna was next to him. He looked at her surprised - since their fight in Egypt she's been keeping her distance and not even looking at him. She stuck her tongue out before turning back towards the kid. Carter was so relieved his cousin wasn't mad at him, that he almost missed the story. "There were footsteps and I looked through the space between the closet doors. There was this men who had his wand out. His face was the same as the one from the pictures that Tia showed us!" The girl paused for a second, looking at Tiana with searching eyes. The nome leader smiled kindly and nodded. "But I was smart and waited for him to go away and told Tia!" The girl finished enthusiastically.

Jaz smiled and patted her hand. "Thank you for telling us. You're a really brave girl Alysse."

The girl beamed with pride. "Yeah? It was really hard to me-"

"Alysse!" called out Tiana. "You can go now."

"Okay." The girl waved as she was walking out the door. "Bye!"

Jaz shook her head, smiling. "This girl is adorable."

Tiana glanced at the clock and returned the smile stiffly. "Yeah. Now let's get to work." She opened one of her desk drawers and took out an almost ancient looking building plan. After spreading it on the desk, she drew a circle with her finger around a specific area in the corner of it.

"This is where Alysse says she saw Maragos. This part of the nome has been abandoned for the past three years."

"Convenient." whispered Aya. Carter rolled his eyes. Was she really that suspicious?

 _As much as I would hate to agree with a setian – someone has to be, since you clearly won't._

" _Really? You too?"_

Sadie blew a bubble with the gum she was chewing."So, where is this place exactly? How are we gonna get to there?"

"Well," Tiana pointed at the floor. "It's just downstairs, right next to the dorms and the basement."

"Let's go then! What are we waiting for?" Sadie opened the door and held it, gesturing for everyone to get out. As Carter was walking past her, she whispered. "Basement? Creepy."

Tiana made her way in front of the group and they started making their way down a flight of stairs to who knows where. Carter just hoped it won't be an "I told you" moment. They really didn't had time for that.


	8. Chapter 8: The giant cotton bud

_**_**12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.).**_**_ _ ** _ **4**_**_ _ ** _ **:**_**_ ** _ **58**_** _ ** _ **am**_**_

 ** _ **Carter**_**

Their footsteps were echoing through the empty hallways, further and further into the darkness. The difference between the lively nome upstairs and this place was so eerie, he couldn't believe they were still in the same building. The light bulbs in the place had long burned out, leaving the fire ball in Zia's right hand as their only source of light. Not that Carter really minded it, though. Her eyes were so beautiful when reflecting the flame.

Everyone was silently following the 4th nome leader down what felt like the 100th flight of stairs for the day, when she all of us sudden stopped. At the bottom of the stairs were two covered in spiderwebs metal doors. Tiana cleared her throat, before turning to face the group, biting her lip.

"I'm not sure which way we should go."

"What's that for, then?" asked Sadie, pointing at the map in Tiana's hand.

"It's outdated." she responded, observing the piece of paper. "This place was added to the nome in the 1950s. The map is older."

"We'll just try both doors then." said Jaz.

Tiana shook her head.

"The place is huge, it will take hours. Our best chance is to split up."

Ayanna raised an eyebrow.

"Split up? Every time we do, something bad happens."

"True. I ain't saving Carter's ass again." added Sadie.

"You two have a better idea?"

Tiana was right. It was her nome after all, she knew it better than any of them did. If she thought it was going to be a waste of time to explore whatever was behind those doors one at a time, she was probably right.

"So splitting up it is." Carter said, earning death glares from his sister and cousin. He couldn't see well the other's faces, but he was sure they were not happy either.

"I suggest the pharaoh comes with me." said Tiana. "The right door has more of a chance of leading to Maragos."

Zia sighed, taking his hand. "I'm coming with."

"Wait, where is the other team going to get light from?" asked Jaz.

Ayanna looked through her bag and took something out.

"We could use my phone's flashlight." she said.

"Sadie and Cyd are going with you, Cleo and Jaz." Carter told her. "I'm always the one who gets in trouble when we're splitting up, I'd feel better knowing you and Sadie are not there if something happens."

His cousin looked ready to protest, but he cut her off. "Walt?"

The boy nodded. "Coming."

After a quick "Let's get this over with", Sadie opened the left door, which creaked loudly, and turned on the flashlight.

"Be safe!" she yelled before leading Cyd, Cleo, Ayanna and Jaz into the darkness.

"Okay then!" Tiana clapped her hands, a bit too enthusiastic. "Let's go!"

* * *

 ** _9_ _:_ _40_ _a_ _.m._**

Tiana had led them down a corridor, which seemed to have no end. The fire in Zia's hand was starting to slowly glow less and less as the minutes passed and Carter was geting worried about his girlfriend. Magic resources are not endless and she has been keeping up the fire ball in her hand for what felt like ages, though he couldn't be sure how long it's actually been.

And just like that, he jinxed it. Zia stopped abruptly, frowning at her hand. Everyone stopped to look at her as the fire turned into flames, struggling toflicker in between her fingers. Carter could hear her cursing in Arabic under her breath as she was trying to ignite it again, but with no luck. All that was left as a reminder of the flames, were the fading smell of smoke and the warmth of Zia's body as he helped her steady herself after loosing balance for a second.

"Well, there goes our light source!" huffed Tiana. Did she not care at all that Zia drained herself? Gods, if she ended up burning up, simply because he had been stupid enough to not have a flashlight stored in Duat, hewouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"If I..." A couple of sparks broke through the darkness for a second. "If I just concentrate hard enough, I could- "

"Zia." Carter whispered, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't. We'll figure something else out."

"We could try and make-shift a torch." called out Walt's voice. "Maybe one of us could use the A'max spell to light up some linen wrappings?"

"I'm not the best with fire, but I can totally do it, if you provide the could wrap 'em around my staff." chimed in Tiana.

And so they did. Carter was holding Zia, who was resting her head on his neck, her breath making him shiver with every exhale. Soon the improvised torch Walt and Tiana had made lit up, blinding him for a second. Carter blinked a couple of times, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

Walt was laughing, trying his hardest to stop.

Tiana raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"It looks - It looks - like a fucking giant cotton bud!" he said, resulting in now everybody laughing.

It did. But hey, they had made the 'torch' in the pitch black dark, no one expected art. Linen mummy wrappings were wrapped around the animal head of Tiana's white staff. Carter wasn't sure if this was gotta set and the weapon aflame, but everything seemed fine for now.

"We ready to continue?" asked Tiana, after calming herself down.

Carter shot a worried look at Zia, who seemed to be feeling a little better after taking a 10 minute break from using her powers. Better didn't mean good though. He could sill feel how hot she was and how she was using him as support to keep herself up.

Despite that, she nodded.

"I'm fine." Zia kissed him on the cheek and then slowly pulled away from his embrace. "Come on, we've got a serial killer to catch!"

* * *

 ** _12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.)._ _10_ _:_ _0_ _0_ _a_ _.m._**

 ** _Zia_**

After some quite walking, Zia decided to break the silence. She wanted to know more about this girl who was not only leading them to Ra knows where -

 _No, I don't._

 _-_ but she was also holding their only way of seeing in her hands. Plus, Zia wanted something to distract her from how useless she felt after failing to re-ignite a stupid fire ball. Carter was rubbing circles in her hand with his thumb, and though this was helping, it wasn't quite enough to ease her mind.

"So, Tiana" she started. "When did you become a nome leader?"

"Three years ago, at 14."responded Campbell, not taking her eyes off the burning staff.

14? There was no way a normal nome would've let a 14 years old to lead.

"Why you? Why not one of the adults?"

Tiana looked behind at Zia with a faint smile.  
"Because there weren't any left." she said and continued making her way through the darkness.

Zia turned her attention towards the boys to make sure she has heard correctly and was met with the same amounts of confusion from them. Three years ago? This is when Apophis was raising. What has happened in 4th?

Before Zia could ask any more questions, Tiana gestured for them to stop. She pointed at a door in the end of the hallway, that had light coming out from under it.

"There's someone there." Tiana whispered, before summoning water to put out the 'torch' and leaving them in the dark. At least the faint light coming in from under the far door was making it easier to spot silhouettes.

"Sorry guys, gonna need my staff." she whispered at the group.

They slowly and quietly approached the door. It was slightly opened, allowing them to peer inside. The room looked like it had been a dorm, with two beds on each side of a wide desk. A tall man was standing with his back turned towards them in front of what looked like a piece of a stela. If Zia's suspicions were correct, the Festival of the Estate of Ptahwas starting soon, which is would've been a perfect time to open a portal. Was that what he appeared to be waiting for?

"Okay guys, here's the plan-"

"The plan" Carter's whisper was cut off by a deep raspy voice, coming from behind them. "is to teach some nasty little kids where their place is."

Zia could feel Carter's grip on her hand tighten as they were turning around. Whoever the man in the room was, it wasn't Maragos. No, Maragos was right there in front of them with a staff in his hand. Trowing a glance back, she could see the other man coming closer, a khopesh in his hand. Just great.


	9. Chapter 9: Howl At The Moon

_Before we begin, I just really quickly want to thank everyone who has been enjoying this story so far and also give credit to the Brooklyn House Magician's Manuel for the Howl at the moon Game Night. The whole game night thing is actually cannon, as is Sadie being a motherly figure, which is just… I don't know man, I just can't believe Rick actually made those things cannon, that's awesome. Anyways, without further ado:_

 ** _ **Sunday, 29th of July 2018,**_** ** _ **Naqadah**_** ** _ **, Egypt,**_** ** _ **9**_** ** _ **:**_** ** _ **30**_** ** _ **p**_** ** _ **.m.**_**

 ** _ **Ayanna**_**

The door led them into a long school corridor.

 _Duh. It's a school._ _What's up with awful cheap cleaning supplies smell, tho?_

" _Duh. It's a school."_

Tiana was standing on the opposite end of the corridor, her hands high in the air. 4th's nome leader appeared to be summoning something. A faint song-like chant was coming from her direction.

Ayanna looked around and noticed an open door nearby that she pulled Cyd behind.

 _You're sure pulling her behind things a lot today._

" _Set, I swear..."_

Cyd adjusts the door slightly, so they could see Tiana better. "Who do you think she's…?" She left the whispered question trail off in the air between them.

Ayanna shook her head. Her mind continued to go back to the hieroglyphs carved in the door handle. The god of centipedes? Honestly? Out of everything in the fucking world.

 _Language!_

" _Says the god of puppies,_ _wholesomeness_ _and rainbows."_

 _Hey, looking at the majority of my follower, I think I've got the rainbow part down._

Tiana let out an angry groan and threw a shabti on the floor, causing it to smash.

"Idiots!" She turned around furious. Cyd and Ayanna ducked behind the door, but they weren't fast enough.

Cyd reached out for Aya's hand, squeezing it gently.

Tiana moved closer. "Who's there?"

Ayanna looked at Cyd. What were they suppose to do? Confront her? It was worth a try. After exchanging a reassuring nod, the girls slowly got up to face an angry magician. Fun stuff.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

Cyd let go of Aya's hand and crossed her arms.

"We could ask you the same question. What were you summoning?"

Tiana's eyes widened in shock.

"What? No, look, it's not what it looks like. I was simply calling up to Sepa to ask for help."

Why did they had to be right about the centipede?

"What help are you talking about?" asked Ayanna, slowly eyeing her up and down.

 _10 points to Slytherin for Miss Kane's subtle psychological mind control techniques._

"Listen." Tiana shifted her wait from one foot to the other. "I have an idea. No! A plan! On how to find the pharaoh and Chief Lector."

"And why should we trust you? Your nome is not in immediate danger anymore, why are you still tagging along?"

"Because I want to help!" She lowered her eyes, not daring to look at Ayanna. "Look, I feel like it's my fault we might've lost your cousin. I want to help. Let me. Please."

 _Yeah, I don't buy her sob story._

" _Set!"_

 _What? Don't tell me you do. She may and look nice and sweet, but she is probably a manipulative little piece of-_

" _Language!"_

 _I thought we don't trust her._

" _We don't…"_

 _Aya?_

" _You're right, yeah. Yeah, we don't."_

 _Okay. Good. Now tell her to stick up her-_

" _Setekh!"_

The god laughed inside her head.

 _Come on, don't be a buzzkill! I'd love to see her reaction._

Ayanna rolled her eyes, making Tiana look at her hurt.

"Did you just roll your eyes on me?"

No. "And what if I did?"

Cyd hit her hand. "Ayanna! Please."

Gods, Aya would do anything for those ocean eyes. Did Cyd knew it? "Fine."

Ayanna forced a smile at Tiana. "Let's go find the rest of the team and you could share with us your amazing centipede plan, shall we?"

* * *

 ** _Cyd_**

The scent of the river hit her upon walking out of the school. It was a nice change to the smell of cleaning chemicals they had been surrounded by a minute ago. The stars were shining over them, the flying candles were lighting up the path in front of them, the initiates were running around with the ankle bitters – it felt like the perfect little moment. For a moment.

"So, Tiana," Ayanna started. "Your plan?"

Sadie looked skeptical. "You have a plan?"

"I do." Tiana nodded, fidgeting with her sleeve.

"...So?"

"You guys can summon gods, right?"

Sadie nodded stiffly. "Not preferably."

"Well, I found this scroll while we were in Brooklyn," she took out a scroll from Duat .

Sadie made a 'give it to me' hand motion, took it and starting glancing over the text.

"This is a recipe for a gemi potion." She looked up from the scroll at Aya. "A finding spell."

It as like a wave of understanding made its way through the air between the cousins. Aya nodded.

"What do we have to do?"

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! Let's think for a second." Said Walt, walking over to Sadie to look at the scroll. "Lives are on the line. This is not the time for rushed decisions."

Aya crossed her arms. "Exactly! Lives are on the line! If we're not rushed now, then when?"

 _Calm her down, make sure she's in control before it's too late._

" _How?"_

 _Trust me?_

" _...No."_

 _Try._

"Girl, calm down." Cyd put her hand on Aya's shoulder and started slowly rubbing circles with her thumbs until she felt the pressure in her shoulder was gone.

Zia took one of the flying candles from the air and brought it closer, so it shined on the scroll. "Sadie, what does it say exactly?"

Sadie's eyes jumped up and down the papyrus. "Sepa, also known as Sep, is a centipede god, ew, associated with fertility of the soil, worshiped especially by farmers. Blah blah blah, some more boring shit. Oh! There it is! As a fast… insect? Are centipedes insects? I can't recognize this word."

"No, centipedes are arthropods" informed them Cleo. "Insects have three body segments, centipedes have many. Also, insects have three pair of legs but centipedes have one pair of legs on each body segment."

Aya tensed up again. "I agree with Sadie, ew."

"Anyways, the scrolls says that to find whoever we are searching for we need to make and drink the potion, that only the centipede god knows the ingredients to."

"Well screw centipedes is what I say." murmured Aya, grabbing Zia's attention.

"Okay, this has been going on for as long as I've known you. Why do you hate centipedes so much."

Gods, Cyd loved that story. And the way Aya would fidget with her ring finger while telling it. Cyd heard a sigh coming from inside her head.

 _He used to do that too._

" _Okay, just because we established you are here doesn't mean you shouldn't shut up."_

" 'Cause one scared me for life when I was five, that why." Ayanna said. "I was over at my mom's house in New Orleans when I woke up, cause I really needed to pee and this huge fucking centipede was on the wall, like, 10 inches away from my face. It scared the sha out of me. And this is why I hate centipedes. They are gross, weird, with a lot of legs and freaking venomous!"

"Actually, Aya, regular house centipedes are pretty harmless." said Cleo.

"I don't care!"

Cyd moved her thumb from Aya's shoulder up to the beginning of her neck and felt her relax.

 _See? Feels nice making someone feel better, doesn't it?_

Yeah, it did feel nice. Though the fact that it was Ayanna may and have had an effect on that. But would she ever tell the stupid goddess she was right? Hell to the no! Cyd took a step back, letting her hand drop to her side.

"So what's the plan?"

It looked like Sadie was about to say something, when the now 8 years old Shelby ran up to them holding little Nicolas's hand.

"Sadie! Sadie!"

Sadie smiled at them. Ever since she reunited with Isis two years ago, she's been acting like a mother to the Ankle Bitters more and more every day. "Hi, sweethearts. What is it?"

Nicolas, one of the cutest four year olds ever, looked at her pleadingly.

"You promised we'll still play."

She looked at him for a second, before Shelby clarified.

"Sadie, you promised we won't miss the Howl at the Moon Game Night!"

"We won't." she assured them. "Didn't Julian and Kaliah start the games?"

Shelby shook her head. "They tried, but the little ones want you, Aya and Carter to open them."

Sadie's eyes saddened. Cyd felt Aya's hand find hers and squeezed it.

 _When are you gonna admit you like her?_

" _I thought you were against the idea of me liking a setian?"_

 _This doesn't mean that it isn't happening._

" _It isn't! We're just friends!"_

 _Who constantly 'jokingly' flirt? Cydney, I have been in here for way longer than you think._

"Carter is out on a mission right now, dear." Sadie finally told them.

Shelby stomped her foot. "But you and Ayanna aren't!"

Aya let go of Cyd and, putting on a smile, offered her cousin a hand. "Shall we?" This was followed by Aya whispering something almost completely inaudible.

Sadie smiled thankfully and took her hand. "We shall."

Nicolas jumped in excitement and pulled a proud of herself looking Shelby towards a little stage the school had in front of the official entrance. After sharing a smirk, the girls ran after them with the team following soon after.

"Ladies, gentleman and gentlefolk!" Aya started.

"Magicians, young and old!" added Sadie.

Cyd saw them counting out to three with fingers before finishing Carter's part together.

"Welcome to the Howl at the Moon Game Night!"

Aya smiled at all the initiates cheering, making Cyd smile at her. Aya has always loved the stage and damn, could she own it.

"We're turning this School into a Game School!"

"We'll play the games our ancestors played and make up our own rules if the real ones have been lost to the ages."

"We've got some great Brooklyn House originals, too, created by our very own trainees."

"It's guaranteed fun with the added bonus of teaching you skills that could keep Khonsu the moon god from stealing your ren someday! So, come howl at him with us! Snacks provided!"

Some more cheers as the initiates, or at least the ones that had been around for long enough to, yelled the last couple of lines of the script with them.

* * *

 **Tiana**

Tiana was playing Mehen, or the Brooklyn House Monopoly version of it, with a couple of initiates when the snake amulet in her pocket started heating up. She quickly excused herself to go talk, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her this time. They didn't had to know. _Nobody_ needs to know.


	10. Ch10: It would be an honor, nisu nafeer

… _T_ _his took way long_ _er_ _than I_ _intended_ _it to._ _Blame it on my hyperfocus on researching ancient fighting styles._ _As a side note: 9_ _th_ _grade is crazy_ _and there is a pretty big chance I could be chosen to go to Italy for the ICT Olympic Games next month. Still not sure if we'll be able to afford it though, but if we do it's going to be so cool!_

Anyways, a quick shout out to bandcrazy01 for unintentionally giving me a great idea (though you might end up regretting it). _And thank you to everybody and anybody who is reading_ _this_ _._

 _So,_ _b_ _oys, gals and non-binary pals, w_ _ithout further ado –_

* * *

 ** _ _ **12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.). 10:00 a.m.**__**

 _ _ **Carter**__

 _"Okay guys, here's the plan-"_

"The plan is to teach some nasty little kids where their place is."

"S _hit."_

 _Quic_ _k!_ _Poke him with something sharp!_

" _N_ _ot helping!_ _"_

Carter reached out into Duat, but a pull on his hand stopped him halfway. The magician, who had been in the room, was now behind Zia with a khopesh inches away from her neck. "Wouldn't do it if I were you." he hissed.

Maragos took a step towards them.

"Well. Well. Well." His crooked grin gave Carter chills. If Khonsu's cold eyes and Set's sarcastic smirk had a baby, this was gonna be it. "Look who decided to come to us. Isn't that grate, Pavel? Didn't he make our job easier?" The magician, Pavel, nodded. Carter's heart started beating faster as the khopesh left a mark on Zia's skin. Walt and Tiana were watching like frozen, not daring to move either.

The murderer got even closer. "Oh, _nisu nafeer,_ _embia nyny mytpune ntek_?"

Carter narrowed his eyes. "You won't get anything from me, much less a greeting." he said through teeth. "All you will receive is an even greater punishment than the one you had in North Korea."

Maragos's laughter echoed through the empty hallways. "You hear this guy? The boy wants to act like an adult. Aww! Pavel!"

Pavel lowered the khopesh to the ground and slid it towards Maragos. A mistake. Soon the now unarmed magician was on the floor with a magical rope tying his hands. He stared mortified at the white fire sparkling around Zia's fingertips.

Another blood freezing laugh. Seriously, was Maragos on something? Who the fuck laughs like that?

"Ra has chosen a feisty one, huh? Bet my little friends will like you, sweetheart."

"Who?" whispered Walt. Carter didn't knew and, heck, he didn't wanted to. But as he should've known well by now, luck is never on a Kane's side.

Maragos raised his hands – one holding the khopesh and the other an ebony bone wand – and started slowly chanting. The walls shook. The old light bulbs hanging from the ceiling started bursting out. Walt turned one of his amulets into a shield as glass started flying everywhere.

The floor split open behind Maragos. Walt's eyes widen with realization. When the skeleton hands started to appear, Carter remembered horrified what his uncle had said earlier.

" _What's so special about a serial killer necromancer, who'd love to see death half the people in this room?_ _"_

"Beautiful, huh?" Maragos gestured towards the army of skeletons behind him.

Walt smirked. "Going against the god of the dead with his own?"

"Oh, but you can't control these, Anubis." the magician laughed again. "No, _th_ _e_ _se_ are murdered souls and thus they obey to however killed them."

It took a second for the words to register in Carter's mind. He knew Maragos was, like, the House of Life equivalent of Ted Bundy, but there were at least 100 skeletons behind him. And if they only obeyed one…

 _Well, shit. What ya gonna do?_

Good question. Carter looked around the room, reevaluating the situation. The dead army looked like it was waiting for a command from Maragos, who was just staring at the young magicians. Was he waiting for them to make the first move, as if this was some weird chess game?

 _You are the leader. What are you going to do?_

" _You're not gong to at least give me some advice?"_

 _No._

" _Wow, thank you._ _"_

 _You are going to be crowned in a matter of days, Carter. You have to able to lead by yourself. What are you going to do, Pharaoh?_

Okay, let's see. The hallway was not only unstable, but also too small for Carter's avatar. Everyone would probably be very mad if all of 4th nome fell on their heads, so the khopesh was his only hope right now. Zia looked fine, but she was good at hiding that her powers are low. They probably were. Walt was holding a couple of amulets while staring down the army. Tiana was staring at the skeletons too, mortified. The poor girl. Walt and Zia have been in situations like that before, she hasn't.

Carter really felt awful for dragging her into this. For dragging everybody into this. Thank gods the team parted. At least Sadie and Aya were, hopefully, safe.

He took a step forward, finally taking his khopesh out of the Duat locker.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." Maragos waved his hand and the skeletons formed a circle around the four magicians and the murderer in front of them. Fortunately that guy, Pavel, was left out of it. "Trust me, I don't wanna fight. Surrender, help us achieve our goals and we'll part peacefully. Isn't that what you're known for, _nisu?_ The Peacemaker?"

 _Don't attack yet. Wait for the right time._

" _Said Hor-hit-it-till-it's-dead-us."_

Zia shook her head. "No one would make piece with a monster like you."

Maragos shrugged. "Maybe not, _hemtnisu_. But, perhaps, a deal would be considered?"

" _What did he call her?_ _"_

 _Hemtnisu, queen. He just assumed you two are married._

" _...I mean…. won't mind it. I-"_

 _Concentrate now, daydream about your girlfriend later, okay?_

" _Yeah, okay, you're right."_

The skeletons got closer, making the circle smaller.Carter got a tighter grip on the sword, just in case. "What deal?"

His friends looked at him like he was crazy, and maybe they were right. But if there was a chance to avoid being part of a cheap zombie movie, Carter was here for it.

Maragos smirked and threw his wand out of the circle, than raised his khopesh in the air as if it was a flag. "I propose... you surrender! HA!"

He looked disappointed that no one agreed. "Oh, too bad. Really didn't want to do this. Mumitea! Ehed!"

The skeletons charged. Zia's staff grew to it's full size and flames came out of the lion head on top of it, burning through the undead army. Tiana summoned a burst of wind that sent some of the attackers flying towards the wall. Walt was trying his best to turn as many skeletons as possible into ash. Just as Carter was about to slash through one of the monsters, someone else did it for him.

Maragos bowed with a chilling grin. "It would be an honor to kill you myself, _nisu nafeer."_


	11. Ch11: It's an honor

__**12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.). 10:**__ _ _ **15**__ _ _ **a.m.**__

 _ _ **Carter**__

Carter parried Maragos's khopesh and swung towards him. Maragos ducked, hitting the cement in front of Carter's feet as he jumped back.

Maragos looked the boy up and down. "Guess the kid knows how to play, huh? Is it your little friend that's helping you, child."

Carter took in a deep breath. He knew he shouldn't allow this scum's words to get to him, but they still did. It must've shown, because Maragos chose just this moment to attack again.

Khopesh hit khopesh, over and over again, until Carter finally saw a week spot in his opponent's defense. He slashed the air, making Maragos step back, and hit his leg.

Maragos hissed before swinging again. This time, however, Carter wasn't as fast. He clenched his teeth as the khopesh cut a line through his chest.

 _Don't think about the pain, just fight!_

Unfortunately, for once the stupid god was right. The team would kill him if he died.

As his shirt started soaking in blood, Carter felt Horus's power washing over him like a wave and steadied his stance.

The two magicians continued the fight as chaos swerved around them. It seemed like for every skeleton Zia, Walt and Tiana killed, three more would appear. Zia was already exhausted enough and the fact that the air around her was filled with steam really wasn't the most comforting sight for Carter.

As his weapon hit against Maragos's once more and his blood started finally dripping on the floor, he couldn't help but wonder: was that a loosing fight? If he surrendered would they leave his friends alone?

Don't be stupid, Carter! Maragos killed all these people, you think he will have mercy on three more?

The power was leaving the Eye of Horus with every drop of blood that fell on the floor. Maragos hooked Carter's khopesh and twisted it behind the boy's back. Carter froze upon feeling the cold blade touch his neck. He tried his best not to move at all as the blade started slowly cutting through his skin.

"Ah, sweet, sweet win." whispered the murderer in his ear. "When was supposed to be your coronation, boy? In two weeks, during the new moon? Oh, too ba-"

Maragos's taunting was cut short by his khopesh dropping to the ground. He screamed in a mixture of pain and anger as Carter quickly ran towards his own weapon. Back armed and on his feet, Carter saw what had caused the scum's pain: his burned hand was almost completely black and swollen. It looked like the bones on his fingers were also visible, but even just thinking about that made Carter want to puke.

Zia's eyes fixated on Carter and she tried to run towards him, when Maragos saw her. He yelled something the boy couldn't catch and a bunch of skeletons blocked Zia's way. They weren't enough to fully stop her, but Carter knew that slowing her down was enough for the monster in front of him.

Maragos lifted the khopesh with his other hand and started getting closer. Carter tried to back away. His breathing sped up when he felt something under his foot, but it was too late. Carter tripped on a bone from a defeated skeleton and fell on his back.

The last thing he saw was Maragos's crooked grin. Zia's piercing scream rang in his ears as the pain took over.


	12. WE are his family

_This one is a little shorter, but I felt like it was enough the way it is._

 _Quick life update for those who care: I am going to Italy! Ah! I am leaving my small forgotten by god country for the first time ever AND I'm going to spend a whole week having fun with friends AND because it's an Erasmus project it's all free! Yay! Anyways, on with the story!_

* * *

 _ ** _ **12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.). 10:15**_**_ _ ** _ **a.m.**_**_

 **Zia**

No. No, no, no, no, no, no. No!

Gods, please, no!

The skeletons were calmly standing there, keeping her away from him. How could they be so calm? No one should be so calm in a moment like that!

 _You are getting mad at soulless shells of what once have been murdered people. Concentrate on what matters._

Right. On what matters. Him. Zia tried to summon another fire ball _,_ but her powers failed her. So did her legs. She managed to find enough strength in her hands to not fall face first on the floor.

Laying there gave her a view of what was going on with Carter. Oh, Carter! He had fallen and was trying to back away. Get up, get up, get up! She felt like she couldn't breathe. There was so much blood around him, that his injuries from that day at the Demon Land seemed like nothing.

That day. That picnic. She almost smiled at the memory. It was the first moment in a long time (from a lot to came), when she felt loved. She wished she could stay in the memory forever, but the sound of Maragos's laughter brought her back to the awful reality.

Maragos lifted his sword and her world fell apart. She has never been one to scream, but something inside of her broke.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no." somehow her whispered mantra turned into a yell. "No! No. gods, no! No! No!"

One more try to use her powers. There was still time, he could still be breathing, he could still be alive! The air around her was getting hotter and hotter by the second. Anything more than a quick shallow breath was starting to feel impossible. There was no heat source around. Plus, she was used to high temperatures, what was that about?

 _It's you. Stop trying to find your flame or you will be consumed by it forever._

Was that it? Was she burning up? For a split second, a weird sense of calmness took over her as she let her tears fall. Maybe they could die together.

No! No, he was still alive. He was alive and he needed her.

Zia was so consumed by her thoughts, that she didn't realize the skeletons surrounding her were gone, until she felt an arm wrap around her.

"You okay?" Tiana's voice was softer than before, as she helped her to her feet.

The monsters were now guarding their master from Walt, who was trying his best to get to Carter.

Carter. He didn't look well at all, but the way Maragos was dragging him towards one of the doors gave her hope. Maragos has said something about their coming here making his job easier. Maybe they needed Carter alive. Still not a comforting thought, but she was desperately looking for something to hold on to.

In front of the door, Pavel was opening a portal to who knows where. If she managed to just slightly blast his hand and stop his chanting, she-

 _You are fire, but that doesn't mean you can't be burned. The power within you is slowly eating its way out._

" _I need to help-"_

 _You can't help him from the land of the death._

She knew it's true. Plus, how was she expecting to not miss her target? Her vision was already blurry by the smoke coming out of her. And it's through the smoke that she saw her love's unconscious body disappearing through the portal.

The skeletons disappeared through the floor once Maragos was gone. Once _h_ _e_ was gone with Maragos. She felt herself drop again to the floor. This couldn't be it, this couldn't be happening.

Walt ran up to her and Tiana. "I'm so sorry. I should have been able to contro-"

"Sorry for what?" She wiped her tears away, replacing all sadness with anger. Crying would not solve their problems. Fighting will. "We need a plan. For him."

Walt nodded, tearing up. "For him."

 ** _ **12th of July 2018, 4th nome (Aurora, IL.). 10:**_** ** _ **55**_** ** _ **a.m.**_**

 **Walt**

"Meet us where we parted… Okay…. How long do you think it will take you to get there… Yeah… I'm okay, why?…. I know, just wait for us there….. We have some news…. I love you too…. Bye." Walt closed the phone with a long sigh. "How are we going to break it up to them?"

Zia shrugged weekly. She was still shaking from the cold water they had decided to pour over her. It was either that, or nerves.

Thankfully, knowing where it is, Anubis had been able to open them a portal to the hallway with the metal doors. Now all they had to do was wait for the rest of the team to make it there. They hadn't gone very far, for a part of their hallway had been blocked and, according to Sadie, "ha-di-ing the shit out of it didn't help." Gods, he loved that girl.

Zia had been harder to deal with. She had been so close to burning up by the time the skeletons were gone, that Anubis could feel her ba trying to get away. Zia, being Zia, had been reassuring them for around half an hour that she's fine until she almost passed out. Some people need to learn to accept aid. Summoning a bucket of water and pouring it on her had seem like the rational thing to do. Her temperature was so high, that it evaporated almost immediately. Thank Ma'at she wasn't burning up anymore, though.

Tiana cleared her throat. "Um, I know, that you guys are his team and all, but are you really concerned about Kane? I mean, he's not even Pharaoh yet. The once upset will probably be his family-"

"We are his family, too." Walt cut her off, fighting back tears. "Just because we're not related by blood, doesn't mean I don't see him as a brother. Just because Sadie and Ayanna are the only once on this team related to him, doesn't mean that they're the only once allowed to care. As the house became our home, this team became our family. Just because we 'work for the pharaoh', it doesn't mean that all of a sudden that changes. And just because he's-"

"He's what?" Hearing Sadie's voice from behind made him freeze. He looked at Zia for support, but she was looking at the floor. "Walt? He is what? Where is Carter? Walt!"

He refused to turn around, refused to look at her. He couldn't. Her brother was god knows where, bleeding out to death, stabbed, with the murderer they had come to save the nome from. And Walt couldn't help him, because of a bunch of freaking ZOMBIES! Out of all things! He wasn't able to stand up to a necromancer! What was the point of having death powers, when he can't even use them when needed? When he can't even safe his best friend? No, he wasn't turning around to face her.

"Walt! Fine, ignore me! Zia!"

Zia lifted her head, revealing the tears running down her face. Hearing Sadie's gasp and Ayanna's whispered "No!" was enough to know they had gotten the point. Carter was not here right now. If they didn't hurry, he may and never be again.


End file.
